PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Saturday

Scripture lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 All things new

Time to reflect:It seems hard for us to put things behind us. It is tough to accept forgiveness or to give it. But as Paul so eloquently expresses it, this is the Good News of the Gospel. We are forgiven by God and can start fresh – and in the same fashion we are to let others start fresh. In fact, it is a part of our job to bring this good news to others – to reconcile them to God.

Moving through the day: Who do you need to start fresh with?

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 32 “I will confess...”

Time to reflect: Have you ever had a “sin” or something you felt so guilty about that it affected your life and your health? That is the situation in this Psalm. But once reconciled with God the Psalmist everything became alright. He then gives advice to others in verses 6-11.

Moving Throughout the day: Read verses 6-11 as advice from a friend. How do you respond?

1 Blessed is he
       whose transgressions are forgiven,
       whose sins are covered.

 2 Blessed is the man
       whose sin the LORD does not count against him
       and in whose spirit is no deceit.

 3 When I kept silent,
       my bones wasted away
       through my groaning all day long.

 4 For day and night
       your hand was heavy upon me;
       my strength was sapped
       as in the heat of summer.
       Selah

 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
       and did not cover up my iniquity.
       I said, "I will confess
       my transgressions to the LORD "—
       and you forgave
       the guilt of my sin.
       Selah

 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
       while you may be found;
       surely when the mighty waters rise,
       they will not reach him.

 7 You are my hiding place;
       you will protect me from trouble
       and surround me with songs of deliverance.
       Selah

 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
       I will counsel you and watch over you.

 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
       which have no understanding
       but must be controlled by bit and bridle
       or they will not come to you.

 10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
       but the LORD's unfailing love
       surrounds the man who trusts in him.

 11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
       sing, all you who are upright in heart!

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Joshua 5:10-12 A promise fulfilled and another no longer needed

Time to Reflect: Once the Israelites were able to grow their own crops, God let the Manna solution lapse – no longer needed. They were in the “Promised Land” at last. They had had many doubts and struggles with God, but God fulfilled the promises regardless. It is significant that the first thing they did once they had a crop was worship God.

Moving Through the Day: Whenever things work out well do you remember to thank God? Thank God now for any blessings in your life.

Scripture:  

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after [a] they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Joshua 5:10-12 A promise fulfilled and another no longer needed

Time to Reflect: Once the Israelites were able to grow their own crops, God let the Manna solution lapse – no longer needed. They were in the “Promised Land” at last. They had had many doubts and struggles with God, but God fulfilled the promises regardless. It is significant that the first thing they did once they had a crop was worship God.

Moving Through the Day: Whenever things work out well do you remember to thank God? Thank God now for any blessings in your life.

Scripture:  

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after [a] they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Wednesday: Psalm 103:8-18 The nature of God

Scripture lesson: This will be a familiar passage to most church goers. Portions of it are used for various things but especially for the “assurance of pardon” in a service.

Time to reflect: Read the passage slowly thinking about what it says about God. Is this how you view God?

 8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
       slow to anger, abounding in love.

 9 He will not always accuse,
       nor will he harbor his anger forever;

 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
       or repay us according to our iniquities.

 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
       so great is his love for those who fear him;

 12 as far as the east is from the west,
       so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 13 As a father has compassion on his children,
       so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

 14 for he knows how we are formed,
       he remembers that we are dust.

 15 As for man, his days are like grass,
       he flourishes like a flower of the field;

 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
       and its place remembers it no more.

 17 But from everlasting to everlasting
       the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
       and his righteousness with their children's children-

 18 with those who keep his covenant
       and remember to obey his precepts.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Ezekiel 18:20-28 Starting from scratch – over and over again

Time to reflect: We want to accumulate points for ourselves with God... but we aren't interested in the “bad guys” getting off the hook for anything. In this passage God suggests that you are never too bad to be forgiven or to good to be judged.

Moving through the day: Where do you stand in relation to God – today?

Ezekiel 18:20-28

20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

 21 "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 22 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

 24 "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

 25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Monday

Scripture lesson: Exodus 16:1-15 Manna

Scripture lesson: God kept helping out the Israelites and they kept complaining. One feature of the Manna is that people could only gather what they needed, no more. God provided the necessities, only.

Time to reflect: Do you have the necessities? Do you still complain? Pray for contentment.

Manna and Quail

 1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."

 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?" 8 Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."

 9 Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.' "

 10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

 11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.' "

 13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was.
      Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.